Midnight Tea
by reader304
Summary: After Bespin, Luke and Leia each have their own grief to bear. When he realizes the princess hasn't been sleeping, Luke sets out to comfort his friend. But how do you comfort a woman who's been trained not to let her sorrows show?
1. Chapter 1

**I saw the new movie last night and I'm still processing all of my overwhelming feelings. Aaa! Star Wars is cool again!**

 **Anyway, this has been percolating in my mind for a while. It will probably have three chapters, but I've been wrong about that before. This is, of course, a work of fan fiction that is not being used for monetary gain.**

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When Luke Skywalker was in a pure meditative state, a part of him was in every compartment of every ship attached to the space station. His mind could focus in on every being, sensing their levels of comfort or unease, fear or drunkenness, drowsiness or wakefulness. Or, he could let that awareness blur a bit and his mind would only feed him the reassuring, empowering sensation of being surrounded by life and the Force.

On this particular occasion, however, he was sensing a strong disturbance, close by and impossible to ignore. He recognized it all too well. _Leia is having another nightmare_ , he thought, and then he was instantly shy about knowing that. It felt like spying, even if it was an unintentional result of his exercises – and for her own good, besides.

Luke pulled his mind back into himself, feeling a little guilty and a little annoyed with himself for not letting go of the guilt. _It's not like I lie awake at night intentionally trying to figure out how she's feeling,_ he thought defensively. _I can't help that she's in the compartment next to mine, having bad dreams every single night. She's my friend, I want to help her. Any other friend would feel the same way, if he managed to notice the problem._

He sighed and checked the chronometer. 00:00 on the nose, but he wasn't sleepy yet. Or rather, he wasn't going to be able to sleep yet.

Luke unfolded his legs, got off the bunk, knelt down, and opened the tiny drawer that passed for a wardrobe on a crowded Alliance station. He fumbled for his robe, the prosthetic hand still a little clumsy despite weeks of practice. His missing hand throbbed.

Wrapped in the robe and wearing a pair of soft shoes—the only shoes he had to his name, as a matter of fact—he quietly slipped into the passageway. The princess's room was right next door to his own, mostly, as far as Luke could tell, because they'd arrived at the same time. The quartermasters at this base had been overworked ever since Hoth was evacuated, and grouping occupants by rank and gender was not high on their list of priorities.

Luke tapped on the door as gently as he could. _No need to wake the whole station._ He heard blankets rustling and the soft padding of slippered feet. The door panel slid open a crack to reveal a blaster, held by his friend Leia, who managed to look surprisingly intimidating even in her rather flimsy-looking nightdress. She didn't look like she'd been crying, at least, but it was also fairly clear to Luke that she hadn't been sleeping.

She lowered her weapon when she recognized him. "Luke? What are you doing up so late?" she asked.

"My hand hurts," Luke said with a wave of his right arm. "The missing one, I mean. It feels like it has cramps that never let up." _Also I knew you were in pain, and I couldn't go to sleep unless I spoke to you._

"That sounds awful," Leia said sympathetically. She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let him in. "Have you talked to the medics about that?"

Luke shrugged as he entered the small compartment. "They said all amputees have the same problem. It's all in my mind, so medicine won't do anything. Meditation helps but, well, I can't meditate day and night." He leaned against Leia's desk as she closed the door. "When I saw your light was on, I thought maybe I wasn't the only insomniac on this hall."

Leia managed a tight smile at that. "I suppose you aren't." She slipped the blaster under her pillow and sat down on her bed. Luke waited to see if she'd volunteer a reason for why she was awake. She didn't.

 _So, I'll have to get her talking._ _If only a mind trick could work on her._ "Anyway, I was on my way to the mess hall for a cup of tea. Do you want one?" he asked. The question hung in the air for long moments. Leia's face was as unreadable as a face could be. Luke had known her long enough to know that that meant she was trying very hard to hide how upset she was. _But is she upset at me for offering tea, or upset in general?_ He had no idea. Being Force-sensitive didn't mean he could guess how the princess was thinking.

"Tea sounds lovely," Leia said at last. "Should I get dressed and walk with you?"

"No," Luke said hurriedly, "No, don't get up. I'll get it. It won't take long." He smiled at her and headed out.

The mess hall was two decks down from his bedroom, but the lift got him there in a matter of seconds. At this hour, it was mainly deserted, though one or two night-shift crew might pass through. The server droids were turned off to conserve power, so Luke helped himself to two mugs and two packages of tea.

He tried to open the first package to get a tea bag, as he had done thousands of times before, but his prosthetic hand grabbed in the wrong place and tugged too strongly. Tea scattered all over the countertop. _Maybe I should stop volunteering for tasks I'm not sure I can handle,_ Luke thought grumpily. _At least after midnight._ Swearing quietly under his breath, he clumsily swept everything into the disposal and began again. This time, he opened the packages with his left hand.

Somehow he got both cups brewed without breaking anything. He carefully put lids on both mugs—left-handed, again—and, with one in each hand and his concentration fixed on keeping both steady, made his way back out to the lifts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings readers! I am on my way to see The Force Awakens for the second time this weekend, and thought I'd put this up before I do. I'm leaving soon for a three-week trip, so you'll have to wait to see how the story ends...unless I feel inspired to post a chapter tomorrow. Stay tuned!**

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When he got back to Leia's door, another problem presented itself: no free hands to knock or sound the chime. He thought, _I suppose I could Force-push the door open_ , then immediately decided that that was sleep deprivation talking. While the Jedi code didn't explicitly say, "Don't use the Force to break into a female being's bedroom in the middle of the night," it was definitely implied. He settled for a gentle kick to the bottom of the door.

Leia answered almost immediately. She had put on a robe over her thin nightdress, and Luke was slightly embarrassed by how relieved he was to see that. _Even if we are just good friends, you can't expect us to carry on a normal conversation if I can see her—_ "Two cups of tea, as ordered," he said, interrupting that particular train of thought.

"Come on in," Leia said, "If we're both awake, we might as well not drink alone."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Luke said as he stepped inside. "If there's one thing worse than not being able to sleep, it's lying awake bored." He handed Leia her cup of tea. She took it and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her compartment was just as small as Luke's, but somehow she had wedged a tiny desk and chair into one corner. When Luke sat on the chair, his knees brushed against the bunk. It took some care to arrange his legs so that they wouldn't touch hers.

Leia took the first sip in silence. Luke searched for something to say. _I can't tell if this is a good time or a bad time for small talk._ "Maybe I don't want to know what we had to do to get this food shipment, but until I got here I hadn't had a proper cup of H'kak bean tea since I left home," he said.

Leia looked mildly surprised. "You had this type of tea on Tatooine?"

Luke nodded as he carefully brought the mug to his lips and took a sip just large enough to test the temperature. He was relieved that his hand could manage doing that much correctly. "Yes. It was my Aunt Beru's favorite drink, actually, so my Uncle Owen always made sure our kitchen was stocked. Even though he usually had to trade for it from off-world."

Leia chuckled at that thought. "Sounds like your aunt had him well-trained."

"Not exactly," Luke said, taking another small sip. "She would've done without it if she had to. When times were hard she even would say, 'maybe this isn't the month to buy tea.' But whenever my uncle and I went to the spaceport to shop, he'd make me search all over for someone offering a decent price on H'kak beans, even if we had other important stuff to get. Once I found someone selling, I'd call him, and he'd come and haggle, haggle, haggle. I never saw him drive such a hard bargain for anything else, and he was no pushover, either. No matter how few duggats we had to spare, somehow they were always enough for a month's supply of tea. And when we got back to the farm and unpacked what we'd bought, my aunt's eyes would light up every time." He hadn't meant to tell the entire story, but still he smiled at the memory. _Sometimes Aunt Beru would say "you shouldn't have bought this when we're scraping for pennies" or "I told you I could go a month without." But she always gave Uncle Owen a kiss, after._

Leia was smiling too, to his surprise. She said, "Your uncle must have truly loved your aunt."

"He did," Luke said. "He loved her very much. And . . . he loved me very much too." He winced a little bit. _He loved me my whole life, and the last thing we did together was argue._ "Sorry, Leia, I didn't mean to start rambling. I don't talk about my aunt and uncle very much."

"It's all right. It's good to talk about happier days," Leia said. "Even if it's getting harder to remember them," she added softly.

Despite the fact that he had come to Leia's room specifically in hopes of getting her to open up, Luke was fairly surprised to see that it was starting to work. _What can I say that will keep her talking?_ He took a larger sip of his tea to avoid answering right away.

Finally he said, "I suppose I shouldn't talk so much about the people I've lost. You've lost more than anyone."

"More than most," Leia said, a hint of defensiveness in her voice. "Not more than anyone. Everyone from Alderaan lost just as much."

Luke prayed that his next point would not come across as unimaginably cruel. "None of them were forced to watch, Leia," he said gently. "You lost everything you had, and then some." _None of them were tortured first, either._

Leia avoided looking at Luke while she took a long drink from her mug. She was good at hiding her emotions—the best, really—but Luke could sense a monumental struggle in her. He could tell that she very much wanted to cry, but didn't think she should.

 _So how do I make a woman cry, but in a good way?_ He wondered. To his great surprise, Obi-Wan's voice answered the question: _let her know she's safe._

That was certainly very strange. _Ben, what are you doing here? I usually only hear you when I'm in danger,_ he called out through the Force. No answer came.

Meanwhile, Leia was still avoiding his eyes. "You don't have to play a princess with me," Luke said, as kindly as he could manage, "Please, look at me. Don't shut me out." Leia did look at him then, and her eyes were full of tears. He reached into the pocket of his pajama pants, pulled out a handkerchief, and handed it over without a word.

Seeing Leia Organa cry was an education. She somehow managed to be in control even when she was in the deepest kind of grief. Tears streamed down her face and she sobbed, but quietly, never losing her breath. The first time he'd seen it happen, Luke had wondered, _why would anyone have to train themselves to cry silently?_ He'd tried very hard to avoid wondering about that for too long.

Leia took the offered handkerchief, wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and somehow managed to go right back to talking even as she wept. "Did I ever tell you that they made it my fault? They told me they'd blow up my home unless I told them where the Alliance was. So I . . . I gave up a base. An older one that we sometimes used as a safe house. They blew up Alderaan anyway," she said, her voice disturbingly calm.

 _Yet when I found her, she had mentally mapped out an escape route and was prepared to flirt with the first Stormtrooper to come through the door. She's one tough lady._ "No, you didn't tell me that," Luke replied. Then, on a hunch, he added, "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

Leia shook her head. "I suppose I didn't."

"Why not?"

She took a sip of her tea while she thought about that. "At first, I couldn't believe it had happened. I shut it out of my mind for as long as I could. Then later it was too horrible to bring up." She blew her nose again and took a deep breath. "It's hard, even now, to really understand it. What happened, and how. It's not that I lost a lot in that moment, it's that I lost everything. Everything from the first nineteen years of my life was gone in an instant. My family, my school records, the waitress who served me kaf once, my favorite dresses and foods and vehicles, the childhood friend whose tooth I knocked out roughhousing, every man I ever danced with, every voter who wanted me to be senator. All of it was gone so quickly that I still haven't processed each loss." She looked down at her teacup and sniffled. "I guess maybe I never will."

At a loss for words, Luke leaned forward and laid his good hand on Leia's shoulder. She reached up and laid her hand on his. For a long few moments, they sat there in silence.

It was the princess who broke it first. "I had a good life, on Alderaan. I had a happy childhood, at least at first. I still have my good memories. My mother brushing my hair while I recited poetry when I was small, my father teaching me to fly my first speeder, watching him make speeches on the holo, waiting for him to come home so he could tell me what he'd wanted to say instead. He would toe the imperial line in public, then tell me about the truth with a wink and remind me, 'It's all our little secret, princess!' But now all my fond recollections of playing in his study, reading in my bedroom, reviewing my lessons on a particular plaza or eating a picnic under the shade of a certain tree are tainted by the knowledge that none of those places exist anymore."

She sighed, and added, "Some people around here have dreams, hope for what they'll do and where they'll go when the war ends. But I just can't even imagine it ending."

"Neither can I," said Luke, and it was true. "It's strange, since I've only been with you four years, but I feel like I've been at war forever. I have these moments when I look around and I don't even recognize myself or anything in my life." _That was more than I meant to say. Oh kriff, you came here to calm Leia down, not complain about your own problems._

Leia didn't seem offended, thankfully. She said, "How do you mean?"

Luke took a deep breath and a swallow of tea, pondering how to express it. "On the last day I spent with my family, I ended up storming away from the dinner table in a huff. My uncle and I couldn't stop fighting. I wanted to go to the Imperial academy. He wanted me on the farm. We had that same fight about three thousand times."

He took another deep breath. "The next time I came home, I found their bodies burned to ashes."

He paused to wipe a tear out of the corner of his eye. "Life at the farm wasn't so bad. I had my own speeder and a skyhopper to play around with. I was pretty good at fixing things. I had some friends around. Biggs Darklighter, do you remember him? I thought the day he left for the Academy was the worst day of my life. When a worse day came, he had just been for a visit and told me he was going to jump ship for the Alliance.

"But then in one day, there was no farm anymore, no skyhopper, no family. I left the planet with nothing but the clothes I was wearing, two stolen droids, and my father's lightsaber. And then Ben died, and Biggs died, and I blew up the Death Star . . ." He trailed off. _It wasn't murder, they were trying to kill you and everyone on Yavin,_ he reminded himself, but it was never easy to believe.

With a shake of his head, he finished what he had meant to say. "And then eventually I left those clothes behind while evacuating one of our temporary bases. All I had was a uniform. Every friend I made was living on borrowed time and more of them died every month. I left Hoth with a stolen X-wing. My father's lightsaber was the last thing I owned. Then the hand I held it with got cut off," _by a monster who claims to_ _be_ _my father,_ "and now here I am, wearing Alliance-issued pajamas and Alliance-issued sneakers, drinking Alliance tea, no lightsaber, no ship, nothing to my name. Not even all of my limbs are my own, this hand was paid for by the Alliance. And my best friend Han is . . . well, he's not lost for forever, but he sure isn't here, either." He saw Leia's eyes watering again at the reminder, and he reached out and squeezed her shoulder again in an attempt to comfort.

She nodded and said quietly, "I know exactly how you feel."

Luke swallowed the last of his tea before continuing, "Yet I know I haven't even been through a tenth of what you've been through. Leia, you've suffered so much more than I have, yet over and over I find that you're the one comforting me. Since the very first day we met."

Leia drained her mug and set it on the desk. "It's a bad habit of mine," she said. Luke chuckled softly. Leia added, "It can take my mind off things, keep me from sliding into despair."

"I understand," Luke said, "Believe me, there's been more than one occasion where I've been glad to have you take care of me. But you can't keep it up forever."

Leia wiped the last of her tears away and smiled slightly. "Maybe I don't have to, if you're going to show up at my door with tea in the middle of the night and sit with me while I cry."

 _No, you don't. You shouldn't have to._ "I came over here tonight to tell you . . . I don't want you to feel . . . I mean, Leia," Luke ran a hand through his hair while he looked for the right words. "I'd do anything for you, Leia, and I hope that when you need something, you'll tell me." If he had been less exhausted, Luke would have tried to decide why saying those words terrified him more than fighting battles ever had.

To his surprise, Leia's first reaction was to reach out and take his hand. "Oh, Luke," she said, and then hesitated. She stared off to one side, and Luke could tell she was fighting for control. He held onto her hand, ran his thumb over her knuckle, and silently willed her to relax.

At length, she finally turned back and met his eyes. "I think you know by now that I'm not very good at talking about how I feel. It was never part of my duties as princess," she said. "But the closest thing to family I have left in this universe is you." She swallowed hard. "So if I can't tell you what's really going on, I can't tell anyone."

Luke gave her hand a squeeze. "You can tell me. Anything."


	3. Chapter 3

**Funny story: I actually got a concussion between the last chapter and this one. So apologies for any grammatical errors.**

 **Happy New Year, and stay tuned!**

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Leia sighed. "Han," she began, "he's . . ." She broke off with a choked sound.

Luke finished her sentence, "He's been captured. But we'll get him back soon." _I hope._

The princess nodded. "Han and I, we . . . we were on the _Falcon_ for months, trying to get to Bespin." Luke nodded; he'd heard that part of the story from Threepio, repeatedly. Leia continued, "It was just us and Chewbacca, all alone. We didn't know how many of our friends had survived the evacuation. I thought  you were dead for sure. For all I could tell, we were the last three rebels in the galaxy." Luke thought, _she must have felt like the loneliest person alive._

Leia continued, "We shut down everything except life support and emergency systems, to save power. Eventually Han decided to seal off parts of the ship we weren't using, so we didn't waste heat keeping them livable. The captain's cabin was one of the rooms he decided to shut down."

Ever the diplomat, Leia gave Luke a minute to process that statement. He mentally ran over the layout of the ship before asking, "So, where did you all sleep?"

Leia said, "Well, Chewy kept his cabin, because it's all set up for ideal Wookiee conditions. Han and I slept in the crew cabin."

"Together?" Luke asked, carefully keeping his tone even.

Leia answered, "Eventually."

 _Oh,_ Luke thought, _that explains a lot._ He looked over at Leia's desk and nervously toyed with the handle of his empty mug.

Leia watched him for a few seconds before saying, "You don't seem as surprised as I expected."

A nervous laugh bubbled up in Luke's chest. "How surprised should I be? I knew something happened between you two."

"Who told you?"

"Chewy," Luke said, "Threepio translated." Seeing Leia blush slightly, he quickly added, "Nothing about the two of you sleeping in the same bunk, though. Just that he kissed you, before they . . . took him. I wasn't quite sure whether you wanted me to know." _Or, for that matter, what it meant. I know better than to make an intergalactic incident over two adults kissing. Kriff, you've kissed_ _me_ _at least three times._

Leia was still blushing. "I wasn't sure I wanted you to know either," she admitted.

"So why'd you tell me now?" Luke asked.

Leia's face flushed even more. "Because I have a favor to ask," she said, "A favor to ask of the man who just told me he'd do anything for me."

Luke sat up a little straighter. "You have my attention. What do you need?"

Leia closed her eyes. "After all those weeks of not sleeping alone, I got very used to the sound of someone else breathing. Now, whenever I try to go to sleep, I just start crying all over again because I realize he's not here. All I think can think about is them dragging him away. When I do fall asleep, I dream terrible things."

 _I knew that much. But how can I help you?_ Luke wondered.

Leia opened her eyes again. "I know you didn't come into my bedroom at this hour because your hand hurts. You're here to check on me, right? Because you can tell I haven't been sleeping?"

It was Luke's turn to be slightly embarrassed. "Yes," he said.

Leia nodded. "Well, I think it might help me sleep if . . . maybe . . . could you . . . stay? Sleep in here?"

All Luke could think of to say was, "With you?" _Like an idiot._


	4. Chapter 4

**Greetings friends and readers! I have returned from my trip and to this story. Thank you for your kind comments in the reviews. Happy new year!**

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Leia frowned, clearly irritated. "Yes, with me. But don't worry. I mean sleep as in just sleep. Your virtue is safe with me."

"That's not what I meant," Luke protested. "I'm just . . . I've never gotten an invitation to sleep in someone else's bed."

"Really?" Leia asked, cocking her head to one side. "Never?" Luke shook his head. "Weren't there any girls on Tatooine who were impressed by your flashy skyhopper?" she asked with a smirk.

Luke laughed nervously. "In Anchorhead, every homestead was sealed up tight at sundown. If you kept a girl out past then, the best you could hope for was finding her father at the door with a justice of the peace ready to marry you off."

Leia nodded, the smirk still on her face. "I'm curious. What was the worst case scenario?"

"Finding her mother at the door with a blaster, ready to shoot," Luke said. Leia laughed out loud, but Luke grimaced at the memory. _I only wish that was a joke._

As Leia's smile faded, it left a strange expression in its place. "Listen, Luke, if you don't want to . . ." she began, before Luke interrupted.

"I'll do it," he said firmly. "I said I'd do anything, and I will." Then, somewhat self-conscious, he added, "If you think this will help you, I mean, I'm not him."

"I know who you are," Leia said sharply. Then, softening, she said, "Also, thanks."

Luke smiled, struggling to ignore what his heart – and his stomach – were doing. _Calm down. We are both adults. There is absolutely no point in being nervous about the prospect of sleeping next to a friend._

Emotional control had never been Luke's strong suit.

 _Maybe I can settle for pretending not to be nervous,_ he reasoned. "So, er, how do you want to do this?" he asked, willing his voice not to tremble.

Leia shrugged out of her robe, and Luke steadfastly kept his eyes on her face. "I guess we can just, well, lie down and see how it goes," she suggested.

"Right," Luke said, not trusting himself to offer much more in the way of helpful suggestions. He stood, took off his own robe, folded it neatly, and left it on the desk chair. He quickly slipped out of his shoes. That left him in only a soft shirt (which, in truth, was a size too small) and sleep pants. He noticed that Leia was suddenly not looking at him either. _So I'm not alone in thinking this is awkward. Good to know._

Leia drew back the blanket and lay down, scooting in towards the wall. She turned onto her right side and got comfortable. Luke sat down next to her and hesitated for a moment. He usually slept on his right side, too, but turning towards her seemed too familiar. _The man she loves probably turned towards her. He wouldn't like it very much if I took the same place._ At that moment, Luke decided _then again,_ _I'm never telling Han about this night no matter how I end up sleeping._

After another second of waffling, he lay down and turned onto his left side. His back pressed up against Leia's, and the warmth of her body soon spread through him. "Are you comfortable?" he asked.

"More so than I have been in weeks," came the answer.

Luke could feel the hard edge of the mattress digging into his left knee. The bed ended no more than three centimeters from his face. _If only this bunk were just a tiny bit wider, I might actually be able to get comfortable._ "Good," he told Leia. "Let me know if you need me to move over, or anything."

"Thanks," Leia said, her voice already starting to sound sleepy.

Luke tapped the bedside panel to turn the lights out. He stared at the far wall until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He'd gotten into the habit of doing that at night, though he wasn't sure why. He took the time to breathe, and work on quieting his mind. His missing hand still ached. When he paid attention to the pain, he inevitably started thinking about why it hurt, and what had happened, and what Vader had said . . . that line of thought could keep him awake all night. _Sleep is powerful_ , Master Yoda had told him once. _Deny it to yourself, you must not._ Luke focused his efforts on ignoring the pain.

"Leia?" Luke said softly, as his exhaustion began to catch up with him.

"Mm?" she mumbled from her side of the bed.

"Thank you for coming for me, after Bespin," Luke said. "I never said thank you."

After a moment of silence, Leia replied, "Thank you for coming for me, tonight."

"Anytime," Luke whispered.

In ten standard minutes, they were both sound asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Luke woke to the sound of a door chime, and his first thought was _where in chaos am I?_

There was movement in the room, and he groggily tried to turn over to see if he was being attacked. Before he could, though, he saw a woman's legs cross his vision, heard a door open, heard Leia's voice saying, "Good morning. What's going on?"

The events of the previous night rushed back into Luke's brain and he froze. _Kriff,_ he thought. _Kriff, frak, kriff. Who's at the door? Can they see me?_

He heard Threepio's voice from the hallway. "Mistress Leia, General Rieekan wishes to inquire whether you are feeling all right. It is unlike you to be asleep this late in the morning."

Leia's tone did not carry a hint of embarrassment when she replied, "I am quite well, thank you. I only needed some extra time. Please tell General Rieekan I will join him in twenty standard minutes."

Luke held his breath until he heard the door close again. When he sat up, he found himself face to face with Leia, who was sitting on the desk chair with a tiny, barely perceptible smile on her lips. "Good morning," the princess said.

"Good morning," Luke said. He glanced at the chronometer; it was a quarter past nine. "How did it get so late?" he wondered aloud.

Leia shrugged. "It seems that you were more exhausted than I was. I woke up twenty minutes ago, but I didn't want to kick you out when you looked so peaceful."

Luke could feel a blush creeping up his neck. "Well . . . did you sleep all right?"

Leia smiled. "Like a baby," she said.

"Good," Luke said. Then, unable to think of anything else, he repeated, "Good."

"And you?" Leia asked.

"I . . ." Luke hesitated, "I guess I was sleeping too soundly to think about how well I was sleeping," he finished with a shy smile.

"Good," Leia said. She stood up. "Look, can we agree it wouldn't do either of our reputations much good if anyone saw you coming out of my bunk in your sleep clothes?"

"Agreed," Luke said readily. He'd been thinking exactly that since the moment she'd invited him to stay. Not that he'd ever admit that to her, though.

"Right," the princess said. "My neighbor to the right works the night shift and most likely went to bed a standard hour ago. The three bunks across the hall are occupied by two beings who left for work already, and one whom I haven't heard yet. You are my neighbor to the left, so I guess there's nothing to worry about there. How soon do you need to be somewhere?"

Luke wiped some sleep from his eyes and mentally ran through his schedule. "Eleven, I guess. Occupational therapy in the medbay, for my new hand."

"That's it?" Leia said, incredulously.

Luke shrugged. "Perks of being on inactive status pending medical review, I suppose."

"Oh," Leia said. "Sorry, I didn't think—"

"It's fine. I guess you're not used to the idea, since you've never taken a day off in your life," he said with a smile.

"No, I haven't," Leia said, but she wasn't smiling. "Well, all right then. I'm going to go meet with General Rieekan. Can you wait at least half an hour, to be safe, and then try to make sure no one sees you leave?"

"That seems fair." He wanted to ask, _when did you get so good at smuggling men out of your chambers?_ But he was 100% certain that he shouldn't.

"It might also help if you fix your hair up a little bit. There's a pocket mirror in the top drawer of the desk."

Luke blinked. "Where did you get a pocket mirror?"

Leia shrugged. "I had a governess once who told me, 'A lady should always be able to fix her face, wherever she finds herself.' Guess the lesson stuck."

 _That does not really answer the question._ "Right," Luke said, "Good luck with Rieekan. I'll just . . . wait here until I sneak out."

"Thanks," Leia said. She turned to go, but hesitated and looked back over her shoulder. "Also . . . thanks for last night."

"I'd be happy to do it anytime," Luke said.

Leia smiled. "Then how about we start the tea earlier, tonight?"


End file.
